0 and Up

Title: A Tree is nice Author: Janice May Udry Illustration: Marc Simont Publisher: Scholastic Age Group: 4-8 Picture : Wikipedia A Tree is nice seems rather too plain for a title for children. Nothing fancy or funny. But its this quality that's held in all earnestness up until the end that also makes the book enjoyable, without laboring to interpret or analyze. The book is a Caldecott winner and this calls for dissecting the illustration. Color and black-and-whites alternate; ink drawings draped in gray, follow and precede beautiful watercolors. Especially the watercolors, they glorify the foliage in varying seasons with splurges of warm greens, sometimes with flaming reds and bright yellows in their midst. The book is 11x7 inches in size. This allows for generous detailing of the trunks and twisted branches in varying dimensions, in browns that remind us of barks of dark chocolate. Something about the book gives us that warmth - the thick dirty white paper with rawness resem...

Title: Earth Mother Author: Ellen Jackson Illustrator: Leo & Diane Dillon Publisher: Walker Books for Young Readers Age Group: 4-8 Picture: Mother Earth is Bhoodevi , bejeweled and fertile, in Hindu mythology. She is a young African woman in this book. Both epitomize Earth, like a mother - gentle, beautiful, giving. Earth Mother wakes up and walks across deserts and mesas, touching the lives of bugs, flowers and birds. Soon she meets Man. Man is preparing to catch a frog for breakfast. He thanks Mother for Frog. But he goes on to complain about the Mosquito that annoys him. Nonchalantly, Earth Mother moves on to savannas and plains, tending and caring for her creations on the way. She filled the water holes and sharpened the thornbushes. Her hand guided a sunbird to a blossom sweet with nectar. In the north, Earth Mother powdered the trees with snow. Tiny crystals gleamed in the air like diamond dust. The depth and beauty with which the writing evokes calmness and vigor, that ...